A Walk in Frost Cavern
by Muffinypowers
Summary: Calem nearly drowns, and Serena is not nearly as sarcastic as usual. Contains multi-chapter kalosshipping and some hints at what really happened in Sylveon's Revenge.
1. Saved

_(A/N: I know I said the next fic would be a different pairing, but I just had to write this! I realized I hadn't gotten into Calem's head, and I want to. Still, I'm on chapter 2 on that next fic, and am uploading when I reach chapter 3! Anyway, back to this fic. R&amp;R, constructive criticism welcome. However, do not flame me. I will point and laugh.)_

I'm sick of her upstaging me.

She has a Mega Ring, which she beat me to get. Did I mention that she never uses it? Even though I use mine every battle, her Chesnaught will still Hammer Arm my Mega Absol, beating him to a pulp before he can even move.

But, even though we're rivals, and she drives me nuts, I can't help liking her. I can't help thinking, even through constant derision, that someday, she will be mine. More like I will be hers, in fact. But, all obviousness aside, I think about my current situation. The whole thing is simple, really: I'm lost.

Vaporeon nudges my foot, which is unhelpful as I try to navigate Frost Cavern. I must have been in here a million times, but I can't find the exit. We come to a pool of water, and I ask him to Surf across it. He does, right as a bout of hail hits. I'm going to freeze. Just as I think it can't get any worse, a Floatzel appears. It attacks Vaporeon with an Aqua Tail to the face, which he absorbs like a pro. Wild Pokémon are stupid. Vaporeon hits it with Shadow Ball, which I am extremely glad I taught him. That's when Floatzel decides to use Crunch, knocking me off of the Pokémon I'm riding. Why did I make him fight, anyway? Oh right, because all my other stupid Pokémon fainted from walking around in this stupid cave, and stupid stupid stupid-

Stahp.

I fall into the freezing cold water, and instantly regret wearing the same jacket I always do instead of getting a heavier coat.

Serena would have gotten a heavier coat.

No, scratch that. She never would have gotten in this situation in the first place. Her Pokémon would be at full HP, and absolutely perfect. Not like mine, who were all fainted but Vaporeon. Plus, she never would have gotten lost in here in the first place.

I begin to compare my life against my dignity. Serena was good enough to help me, especially with her Flareon. She probably would, too. However, it would embarrass the crap out of me. I come far too close to choosing my dignity, before I start to lose energy. I can feel the cold taking over me, and I can barely tell where the edge of the water is. Not that it matters; I would probably freeze before I reached it. I finally get to choosing, and I chose life.

"Serena!" She was in the cavern with me, but we split up... Why did we split up? Oh yeah, it was her idea. She said she didn't want me to know her new strategy. She probably didn't want me to die of drowning in freezing water, either.

"Calem!" I hear her voice, trying to find me. That's good, right? I'm not going to die, right? "Send out your Delphox! Take the stick out of his tail! Do something!" It's not worth wasting my breath to say that I can't do anything. I hear her footsteps. She's close by. I see her face. Her gray eyes are filled with a sort of pain. Is she afraid to lose me? Or is she just scared she won't get out of this alive? Before I go under, I see her realize there's nothing she can do. She doesn't have a single Surf user with her, Vaporeon is lost beneath the waves, and she is on land. Why did she make Icy forget Surf? Her strategy could kill me, literally. She finally takes a deep breath and jumps in.

Am I worth that much to her?

"Go! Flareon!" she yells, letting the Fire-type on land. "Stay there. I'll be fine." Her head sinks beneath the water. We are only feet apart. "I promise." She seems to see Vaporeon, and swims the other direction.

Did she only care to save my Pokémon?

Would she let me die?

No, Serena would never do that.

Would she?

She's shivering, as I can tell from what I can see of her. Vaporeon is in her arms. It's easy to tell with his long tail. She then turns to me. I try to reach forward and grab her arm, but I can't feel my own.

"Are you okay?" she mouths. Her mouth fills with icy water. She doesn't seem to care. I don't respond, being barely conscious and all. Only waiting a moment, she takes me in her arms. Unlike in my case, she is still warm. Being perfect like she is, why would she be cold? She lifts me on to the land. Though it's still frozen and snowy, it beats the water.

"Flareon, use...er..." she pauses, not having a good move for it. She takes a disc out of her bag. It has a Fire-type TM in it. "Sunny Day! Use Sunny Day!" She's panicked, but Flareon executes the move calmly. Already, I feel my body warming up. I'm mostly just glad she didn't decide on Overheat. "Okay, now try... Uh..." I mentally facepalm; I'm unable to in real life. She takes yet another disc out of her bag. "Flamethrower!" Flareon roasts everything around me, warming me up.

"S-Serena..."

"Don't try to talk, dummy! You'll make yourself worse!" she says. "You need medical help, but I'm the best you've got!"

She's strict.

Beautiful, but strict.

"Flareon, lay down on him!" she says. "Don't look at me like that, just do it!" He does, and I feel its warmth. I relax, as the burning flame within him heals me.

"Calem... Don't die on me." Serena says. Is she crying? No, of course not. She wouldn't cry for me. Would she? "Do anything you want, just live! Please!" She sends out her entire team, barring Icy. A good choice, I figure. After all, it is Ice and Water. Not the best combination, considering I just barely made it out of freezing water.

"Get close to him. Just keep him alive!" she says. Then, she calls out Icy. "If I get lost, I'll call to you. Okay, buddy? Call back." Icy nods, and Serena runs off.

About 5 minutes later, after a lengthy call-and-response game with Icy, she comes back. A woman that appears to be around 30 or so walks by her side.

"My rival fell into the lake. My Pokémon are keeping him warm. Will that be enough?"

"I can't tell, but I suppose it will be," says the woman. "With that Flareon, he'll be fine. Still, I suggest you get him out of the cavern."

"Right. Calem, can you walk?"

"I'm... I'm not sure."

"Then I'll have to carry you." She picks me up, struggling under my weight. After all, though she's strong enough to help me, she was in the freezing water as well. "Correction: Chesnaught will have to carry you. Much as I'd like to myself."

I feel like she didn't intend for me to hear that last part. I have ears, though, so why wouldn't I? Chesnaught lifts me up with relative ease, and we walk out of the cavern. Espeon, Wobbuffet, Flareon, Sylveon, and Icy follow along. The woman who helped me also comes along, though lags behind.

"Thank you for getting yourself stuck in that freezing water." Serena says, with a tad more than a hint of sarcasm in her voice. Great. The first thing she says to me in full consciousness is a sarcastic insult.

"You're very welcome." I say, with just a bit less sarcasm.

"I'm sorry, did you just say 'Please punch me as much as you'd like'?"

"I'm afraid I did not." Intending to make things obvious, I cough twice, and in between, I say, "Tsundere."

"I'm not deaf, y'know."

"Says Ms. 'Much as I'd like to myself'," I retort. She shuts up after that, until we reach the exit to the cavern.

"Y'know, rival? You're not as stupid as I thought." Should I take that as a compliment? Coming from her, it is one.

I can't figure her out.


	2. Normal Life, I Think

_(A/N: Yay! I thought that my next story would be multi-chapter, but it's this one. R&amp;R, flames will be used to power up Flareon's Fire-Type moves!)_

I sit side-by-side with my rival. We have ventured back to Route 16, and are on the stairs up to the top of Lost Hotel. We have been making small talk, when she says something out of the blue.

"Thank you." Of course, I am utterly confused.

"For what?"

"For being my rival," she says, her hair covering her face. "Even though you're bad, I just wanted to thank you."

"Thanks for calling me bad."

"Hey, it's true!"

"Yeah, you're right." We both laugh. For once, I feel like she's a human. Not an unattainable goddess, or a beautiful supermodel that won't even talk to me unless she wants to insult me. Today, she is my rival. She is my beautiful, perfect rival. Now that I think about it, she isn't perfect. She's only that to me.

"Calem? Can I tell you something?" she says. I feel almost confident. Maybe, just maybe, she'll feel the same. Maybe. Just maybe.

"Go ahead."

"Not like I'm a weakling, because if I say this, I'll look like one," she says. Her tone is almost angry. "But..." She's too nervous to finish her sentence, but I think I may know. I go on the possibility that I do.

"Je t'aime aussi, Sere." I say nervously. I'm not sure why I'm nervous, but I am.

"Then we agree," she says quietly. I don't even know if I heard her right.

"Yes, we do!" Inside my head, there are a million shiny Rapidash dancing on rainbows, without any Water, Ground, or Rock types to screw them over. I couldn't be happier, about this thing that I would probably forget within 5 minutes. "Well?" I ask.

"Well, what?"

"Aren't we supposed to kiss? Or... something?"

"Of course not, dummy. This isn't some stupid, cheesy romance novel." She is still oblivious, I can tell. Still, now that she's told me, sort of, I can anticipate a lot of things happening in the future. "Plus, didn't Sylveon already make that happen? Oh, wait. It was you who tried to kiss me!"

"You never did pull away," I point out. "And Sylveon did pretty much force it."

"If it was Espeon, I could believe that. Y'know, being a Psychic type and all," she says. "But all Sylveon did was pull us together."

"Come on, Serena! You traded that Eevee from Shauna! What'd you expect?"

"I expected a normal freaking Eevee, not a shipper freak!"

"Well, a shipper freak was what you got." I say. She sighs and lies down on her back. I take her hand, which is surprisingly soft, and lay beside her. She moves her hand away, before hesitating and moving it back. How does she manage to be so perfect?

"I'm bored. Do you want to battle?"

Moment has been officially ruined. I do kind of want to battle her, though.

"How about a 1v1?"

"Fair enough," she shrugs. She takes out a Quick Ball, which I know has Espeon in it. In response to that, I take out a normal Poké Ball, containing Absol.

"Go, Amethyst!" Taken a visit to the Name Rater, has she? Well, it doesn't matter. Absol can beat him easily. Plus, giving a Pokémon a nickname doesn't change its power.

"Go, Absol! Mega Evolve!" The Disaster Pokémon grows large wings, and a bit of its fur covers one eye. It doesn't intimidate Serena one bit, much to my surprise.

"Amethyst, use Dazzling Gleam!"

Crap.

It's over in one hit, as always. Serena always beat me, and today was no exception. She was, after all, really good.

"Too bad, too sad!" she teases. I whacked her on the arm. "Hey!"

"I can't believe I forgot that Espeon knew Dazzling Gleam."

"Amethyst."

"Close enough!" Serena is a perfectionist. She's annoying, mean, and extremely bratty. However, she's beautiful, brave, smart, and a brilliant battler. Her skill is why I ever liked her in the first place.

"Nice job, though. Come on, let's head back to Vaniville. We can battle again, or just hang out! Plus, my mom's at a race-" she paused to look at my face, and hers turned the same shade as a shiny Genesect. "No, I don't mean- S-stop looking at me like that!" I release Altaria, and we both step on at once. It can't carry both of us, though.

"Crap. I should have expected that, though. I mean, it is only 45 pounds."

"It's fine." That was the first time she's said those two words to me. It was never 'fine' with her. It was either awesome, or she would beat the crap out of whoever said it. "I've got a Charizard hanging out in my box, I'll go get him."

"And Altaria and I...?"

"Can go on ahead. I'll just be a minute." She dashes off, and I jump on Altaria's back. He takes to the skies, and I see a speck of honey color walking into the tunnel that leads to Dendemille.

As soon as I get to Vaniville, I look around me. Nope, no awesome fire dragon (that isn't a dragon, for whatever reason) with an awesome Trainer on his back. That is, until I hear a cry.

"Wheew!" then, a loud thump. "Ouch."

"Graceful, Serena. Very graceful."

"For whatever reason, I thought of my friend's Togekiss."

"Seems legit."

"Well? Come on!" Serena grabs my hand and practically drags me into her house. It's weird, really. She's weird. That's the only conclusion I manage to come to. "So, what do you want to do?"

"Well," I say, trying to sound smooth. I probably sound like an idiot.

"Don't even think about it."

"How about, 'don't even voice it'? Because I can't just not think about it, I mean, it's just kind of-"

"Shut up." I sigh, knowing there's no arguing with her, and sit on the floor. "You're lazy." After saying this, she immediately sits beside me. She's sort of hypocritical. Still, she's my friend and rival. I'm not supposed to call her that. I probably will, but I'm not supposed to.

"So, are we ever going to actually battle, or...?"

"Eventually, yes." Serena calls out her Flareon, which curls up next to me.

"Ow!" I say, rather loudly. "So, if we weren't going to do anything but let Flareon be cuddly and put me in extreme pain, then why are we even here?"

"To shut you up," she smirks. "Looks like I failed, though." I glare at her. She flips her hair, and gives me the 'I-don't-want-to-talk-to-you' look. The room grows quiet, a bit too quiet. I start to feel uncomfortable, with her not even looking at me.

"Beep. Tsundere detected." I say, trying to stop the cold silence. She finally looks at me, if only to glare again. I've called her a tsundere a lot, why isn't she used to it?

"Well, now what?"

"We could just go back to a different town."

"Fine by me." She walks out of the house, and I see her call out her Charizard. She gets on his back, and I send Altaria. We fly pretty much side by side, until she steers Charizard away to avoid me.

Thanks, rival.

Thanks a lot.


	3. Realization

_(A/N: Oh my gosh, chapter 3! Plot twists everywhere! Sadly, the next chapter will be the last. Anyway, R&amp;R! Flames will be used for marshmallows, constructive criticism welcome!)_

As Altaria and Charizard fly over Dendemille, I hear a voice. It's the voice of a woman, the same one that helped us in the cave, yelling for us to land.

"Come on down, Altaria."

"Land, Charizard!" Both Pokémon land, and Serena and I recall them.

"So, what's this about?" Serena asks. She seems nervous. I can't blame her.

"It's about him," the woman says. "We realized that, in Frost Cavern, if somebody almost drowns in freezing water, they'd never be completely fine." Serena's eyes grow wide in shock. Mine do as well. Does that mean I'm not okay like she had assured I was?

"What!" Serena yells. She seems like she's close to crying. She never cries. The Serena I know is brave, reckless, and angry. She never would cry. Would she?

"I'm sorry, but we're going to need to take a closer look at you. Both of you," the woman looks at Serena. "You were in the water too, correct?" Serena nods, not saying a word. It was only to save me. Could I have doomed my best friend just by being stupid enough to get lost in the cavern? I feel like a horrible person. Why did I have to be such a

stupid idiot? Maybe she wasn't so far off when she said that to me. She's called me an idiot a million times. Maybe she was right after all.

"Hold on! What are the chances that either of us will be hurt?"

"They're rather high. Even more so, now that you've gone untreated for so long." Serena groans and flops to the ground. I feel like doing the same. Just when I thought that today wouldn't suck. Reluctantly, I follow her. Serena is a bit ahead of me.

"We're going to live, right?" she asks, rather nervously.

"I honestly have no idea," the woman responds. "But if one of you dies, the other will likely as well." Really helpful, I think. Really, really helpful.

When we reach the place where we're apparently going to be checked over, I feel a million Vivillion having a dance party in my stomach. Why do we have to do this? Because I'm an idiot, that's why. Serena looks over to me, expecting me to say something witty. I usually do.

"I'm sorry," I say instead. "For getting us into this whole thing." Without saying a word- she's been rather quiet lately, now that I think about it- she rolls back over and goes to sleep. Tomorrow, we are supposed to be checked over. Tomorrow, I learn if I'm going to live or die.

It's amazing how much stress a single word can bring.

The next day, I am run through a million tests. I give blood samples until I feel like I'm going to pass out, get my pulse checked so many times I lost count, and other things that aren't exactly pleasant. After all that, I am given the results.

"It is very likely that you are going to survive," I am told. I'm going to live? "However, you may lose some functions. The problem is in your heart." For some reason, instead of worrying about myself, I go the more caring route.

"And how's Serena?"

"She has about the same trouble. It's worse for you, though. Were you in there longer?"

"Yes. I was."

"I expected as much." From the other side of the room, I hear a "WHAT?" It seems as though Serena had heard the whole thing. It probably just took her longer to process it. "I trust that I don't have to tell you as well?"

"N-no, ma'am."

"Good." Dang, she's more quiet and uncaring than Serena at her worst. That's saying something. She begins to walk out, but for whatever reason, I call out to her.

"Ma'am? Are we allowed to walk around?"

"I don't see why not. It won't make your condition much worse than it is." With that, she takes a final step out the door, and the conversation is over. I stand up and walk over to Serena.

"What do you think about this whole thing?"

"It's not exactly fun, but I can manage," she says. "And plus, even if we die, we die together."

"Personally, my least favorite part is this stupid monitor." I hold up my right wrist, which reveals a bright blue band with a 9-digit number on it. "What are the numbers even for?"

"It's an identification number, idiot."

"On a heart rate monitor?"

"Would you prefer for it to be plastered across that stupid gown?" Serena sits up, showing her hospital gown for comparison.

"Meh, I guess you're right."

"As usual." She's modest, as usual. No, that's sarcasm. She's arrogant, as usual. Yeah, that's closer to the truth.

"Couldn't you start being, you know, tolerable?" I ask. It was probably the wrong thing to say, but I say it nonetheless. "Now that you've told me you li-"

"No," she said a bit too quickly. It's worth pointing out that usually she speaks slowly and sarcastically.

"Hey, why are you being so touchy lately?"

"The same reason you're being so stupid lately." Not having a good comeback to her, I say, "So is your face."

She reaches over to me and slaps me.

"Hey!"

"Serves you right, dummy," she scoffs.

"You're so difficult sometimes. Why won't you just admit it?" Why am I asking her to? She confuses me, but I confuse myself even more. I should get Shauna to figure her out.

"Admit what?" She acts so clueless. She isn't, I know that.

"You like me more than you've let on." She ignores me and tries to stand with a huff, but collapses onto the bed. It's late, I realize. That explains a lot. When she's tired, she gets mean. As I walk back to my bed to lie down, I hear her whisper something. It doesn't exactly surprise me, even though it should.

"Maybe I do..."


	4. Perfection (Final)

_(A/N: Sadly, this is the last chapter. But hey! I had a lot of fun writing this! R&amp;R, flames will be used to power up Flareon's Fire-type moves!)_

My condition only gets worse. Hers, however, has only gotten better. She always beats me at everything. Am I really that terrible? No. Stop thinking this way, I tell myself. It's not worth it to be worthless. Is it? Am I going to make it out alive? Of course I am. She is, and I will too. I promised myself that.

"Is he going to be okay?" Serena had said, a million times.

"Signs point to no. I'm sorry." That was the response she had gotten, each time. I heard it with my own ears. And each time, she walked away sadly. Was this what she would become? If I died, would she become a depressed, sorrowful mess? I refuse to let this happen to her. I promise myself that, a million times.

The pressure overwhelms me. I'm barely a teenager, with only 14 years to my name, and I still may die. I could die any day. Days pass, and I still worry. I am weak.

Serena bursts into the room. She's crying, though I'm not sure if it's out of sadness or joy.

"They told me," she says. She's still sobbing, and sits down next to me. She takes my hand, as if she's about to deliver bad news. "You're going to live, Calem!"

Scratch the 'bad' part. That was amazing news. That news was more fabulous than a shiny Mega Ampharos.

Serena probably had a shiny Mega Ampharos.

She takes my hand and helps me stand up.

"You're actually allowed to leave today! Can you believe it, neighbor?"

"I can!" I'm just as happy as she is. "I just can't believe you!" She pauses, and looks at me with her curious grey eyes.

"Why not?"

"You never seemed, you know... affectionate." I'm not sure if I chose the right word, but I think I may have.

"Not affectionate," she says. "I'm not, am I?"

"Not unless you want to be," I offer, though it doesn't quite sound like one. She seems to consider it, silently. The only sound I hear is the whooshing of the wind, and the roar of the Mamoswine on Route 17. The silence soon grows awkward, and we both search for something to say.

"Can I be?"

"Wait... what?"

"Can I be a bit more affectionate? Because, I mean..." she doesn't speak. I tilt my head in confusion, and she sighs. "Je t'aime, Calem."

Oh hey, that's pretty cool.

Wait.

What did she just say?

Did she just-

WHAT.

"Don't look at me like that, you knew I would say it eventually," she scoffs. I think of a million things I could have said right then, but my genius brain decides to make me blankly stare at the wall.

Hey, that's a nice wall. Why didn't I notice that fabulous wall? Yep. It's a wall. It is rather pretty, actually. I like that wall.

"Well? Are you going to say something?" I shake my head. She clenches her fists. If I were anywhere else right now, I would be preparing to run.

Since I'm not, I'm trying to think of something witty to say.

"Uh..."

"Are you trying to annoy me, or do you just not have anything to say?"

"The second one."

"I expected as much." She rolls her eyes and takes my hand. I look at her, and she looks away from me. Why does she do that?

"Is it my fault that I'm surprised?"

"Why are you surprised? I thought you expected this."

"I didn't!" I say. "You call me stupid every three seconds, and you've punched me 9001 times!"

"You seriously counted?"

"No, did you?" She stares at the ground.

"Maybe." I know from experience that 'maybe' means she did. Every time she denies something, it turns out that she meant the opposite. I really do need someone to figure her out. Then again, maybe I already have. She finally looks up at me, with a smile on her face.

"So, rival, ready to go?" I smile back at her. She grabs my hand. We both walk out of the room, towards the exit. Even though this experience was terrifying, I'm glad I managed to live. Plus, I got her in angst mode long enough to confess that she's in love with me. It's probably not a good thing, but I'm not sure which achievement I'm happier about. I try to convince myself that it's the first one.

"Hey, you okay? Talk, bro!"

"I'm fine, I'm fine! Just thinking."

"Okay, if you're sure." She seems unconvinced. I worry about her sometimes. For some reason, I feel like she worries about me as well.

She lets me on Charizard as we walk outside. I'm lucky he can support both of us. Altaria is still tired from carrying me all the time, and I love him enough to let him stop for a while. I would feel even worse if he was still a Swablu. Those things only weigh 3 pounds! Or something like that. I'm actually not sure. I think I read that it was close, sort of, to three. I'm too lazy to check the PokéDex at the moment.

"So, wait. Which town are we going to, and why can't I walk there?"

"We're going to Vaniville, and you can't walk there because you just got out of the freaking hospital." She's back to normal Serena again. It's a shame, really. Her nice side was like a forme change, but it only happened once every forever.

"Are you ever going to become tolerable?" I ask as Charizard lands. She grins, and recalls the Fire/Flying type.

"Nope," she said. Then, to my surprise, she kisses me. NOT expecting that. Why would I, really?

"Au contraire," I say. "I feel like you just did."

THWACK!


End file.
